For the Greater Good
by dare-denymecider
Summary: Are being the Secretary of State and being pregnant mutually exclusive? Elizabeth thinks they are and struggles to hide her pregnancy.
1. Chapter 1

**An author's please - please read: I've only recently started watching this show but devoured the first 2 seasons in a week. I love the pairing of Elizabeth and Henry - such a great couple! I've come up with, what I think, is a great plot for a 15-20 chapter series and I'm looking for someone to collaborate with. I don't feel I have the writing skills to do it justice so I've put this chapter out there to see if anyone is interested in picking it up and collaborating with me. It will be -rated for smut but it will deal with Elizabeth coping with a pregnancy later in life and being Secretary of State - I think there's potential for this to be a good series if it's done properly. Please PM me if you're interested - I'd love to hear from you! Thanks. Em xx**

 **For the Greater Good**

Elizabeth McCord lay in bed listening to the sound of good-natured arguing drifting up from the kitchen where her family was eating breakfast. She'd been in the situation room with the President until 2am and now, at 7.30 am her head was still fuzzy from days of too much information and too little sleep. Still, if she didn't get up soon she'd be late for her morning briefing and miss out on seeing her kids at all before they headed to their respective schools for the day.

Making her way downstairs, she stopped on the last step to survey the scene before her. Stevie was cooking eggs on the stove, her vegan beliefs once again being put to one side in favour of her favourite breakfast dish. Alison and Jason were at the kitchen table, both engrossed in their phones as they devoured the waffles their father had made for them. And the man himself, Dr Henry McCord, had his back to her as he poured himself a coffee.

"Good morning, family," she said, receiving a chorus of 'morning's in reply. Henry turned as she wrapped her arm around his waist. "Morning," she said, kissing him quickly.

"Morning, yourself. What time did you get in last night?" he asked, his brow furrowed with concern at the string of late nights his wife had been pulling.

"Late," she replied. "Coffee?"

"Here, take mine. I'll make another." Henry said, offering her his full mug of hot coffee which she accepted gratefully. As the steam from the drink reached her nostrils, her stomach lurched and she slammed the coffee down on the counter as she raced back up the stairs to the bathroom.

A few minutes later she heard Henry enter the bathroom behind her and switch on the faucet. She felt him sit down behind her, gathering her hair to one side as he placed a cool washcloth on the back of her neck. She settled back against him, her stomach now empty, her head pounding.

"You okay?" he asked, nuzzling her hair.

"Yeah," she replied softly. "I guess I've caught a bug."

"A bug with two arms and two legs?" Henry asked, surprised at the speed at which she turned in his arms to face him. "Babe, you mainline coffee and the last time I saw you have such an extreme reaction to the smell of it was when you were pregnant with Jase."

The colour drained even further from Elizabeth's face as she tried to comprehend what Henry was saying. "But, I can't be. I mean, I'm 44, Henry. 44! People don't have babies at 44."

"Women have babies as long as they're physically capable to, honey," he reasoned.

"And I'm the Secretary of State! I'm the 44-year old Secretary of State - I'm pretty sure I can't be pregnant."

"There's only one way to find out," Henry said, reaching out to take her hand in his. "You okay to stand up?"

She nodded and let him help her to her feet, clinging just a little tighter to him as she steadied herself, both physically and mentally.

"Can you grab my cell from the bedside table?" she asked as she squeezed toothpaste on to her toothbrush. She brushed hard to rid her mouth of the acidic taste and to focus on something other than the millions of thoughts that were racing through her head.

"Here," Henry handed her the phone.

"Thanks. Listen, can you...?"

"I'll go make sure the kids got off to school okay," he said, leaving her alone in the bathroom.

Spitting into the sink, she hit speed dial on her cell, rinsing her mouth with water as she waited to hear someone speak at the other end.

"Good morning, Madam Secretary,"

"Blake, I need you to do me a favour."

 **I hope that someone feels like this is the start of something and that, together, we can put together a great story about a great couple! Em x**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - thank you to everyone who's reviewed this story and seems to think it's worth continuing. This chapter was written as a collaboration with CarolineMStella - thanks for your hard work (I hope you still recognise it!) If people would like to see more, please review and let me know what you think. Em xx**

 **A/N- Please note I am very much a fluff writer so there are bound to be various inaccuracies. I hope you enjoy it for what it is - a piece of fan fiction!**

Blake Moran arrived at the McCord's house and nodded his acknowledgement to his boss's security detail. He knocked on the door, which swiftly opened to reveal Henry and Elizabeth, waiting anxiously.

"Thanks for coming Blake. I know how weird this must be" said Elizabeth, compassionately, before turning her attention to the petite woman standing next to her assistant. "And you brought Dr Merril! Great to see you, Dr Merril, please come in, come in," Elizabeth ushered the pair into the house. She grabbed Blake's sleeve as he walked past her. "You brought my OB/GYN?!" she hissed in disbelief.

"Two birds, one stone?" Blake offered helplessly and Elizabeth sighed.

"Would you like me to go back to the office, so you have some privacy?"

"No. Stay. Please. If this goes the way I think it's going to, you and I are going to become very close over the next nine months." Elizabeth said, heading towards the couch where the two doctors where chatting, leaving Blake open-mouthed in her wake.

"Well, Elizabeth, if the word 'PREGNANT' on the test didn't confirm it, this certainly has," Dr Merril said as she turned the control on the mobile sonogram and a whooshing noise filled the bedroom. "You're an old pro at this so I don't need to tell you that that's your baby's heartbeat,"

"'Old' being the operative word," Elizabeth said, gripping tighter to Henry's hand as the two of them stared at the tiny black and white blob on the screen.

"Now then, Elizabeth, women are having babies later and later these days. You're certainly not the oldest of my patients and you've been through this before. That being said," Dr Merril's tone turned serious,"I'd be lying if I said I didn't have my concerns about the strain your job will take on your health as your pregnancy progresses." The doctor observed a look pass between the pair and nodded knowingly. "I see I'm not the only one with concerns. Well, it's early days - you're measuring nine weeks - so we can discuss a plan of action when I see you for your 12 week scan."

While Henry accompanied Dr Merril down stairs to join Blake, Elizabeth went into the bathroom to clean the gel off her stomach. Grabbing a Kleenex, she moved the tissue across her still flat belly, trying hard to remember what it felt like to have a baby bump. It had been 14 years since she'd last carried a child and it filled her with disbelief and apprehension to know that she was about to go through it all again.

When she was finished cleaning up she joined the other three in the living room. She looked over at Blake. _Poor Blake!_ She thought. _This must be so awkward for him_. She walked over and sat down beside him.

"I'm sure Henry and Dr Merril have filled you in. I'm going to need you to keep the pregnancy a secret for now. If it gets out, I'll string you up by your eyelashes"

Blake looked absolutely terrified. "Yes ma'am."

After Blake and Dr Merril had left, Elizabeth and Henry sat together in silence, Elizabeth seeking comfort in the arms of her husband. They stayed like that for a while, neither one wanting to start the conversation that they both knew was inevitable.

Henry was the first to speak. "So, nine weeks, huh? That means the baby was conceived the night..."

"...the night Dimitri was released by the Russians." Elizabeth finished, burying her head tighter against Henry's chest. She thought back to that night. She'd held her husband in her arms, much like he was doing now. During the months they'd thought Dimitri was dead, she'd watched her husband withdraw from life but that night, as relief coursed through his body, knowing that he'd finally done the right thing by the young Russian, Elizabeth felt her husband returning to her. Compassion had turned to passion between them and, as they now knew, a new life had been created on that night of new beginnings.

Henry hugged his wife tighter, "Babe, this isn't such a terrible thing. With all of the evil we've encountered recently, this is an amazing surprise"

"I know, but Henry, a baby? This doesn't really fit in with our current lifestyle. I mean, you're busy with not one but two jobs, and I'm Secretary of State."

"Really? I had no idea!" Henry said with a smirk

"Dork"

"But I'm a sexy dork"

"Yes you are, Professor." she said, nuzzling closer.

"You know," Henry said, placing a kiss in her hair, "we have a little time before the kids get home if you wanna fool..." His sentence was cut off as Elizabeth sat bolt upright and looked at him with a pained expression.

"Oh, God, the kids! What are we going to tell the kids?!"

 **Want more? Please review.**


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